Under the hood of Australia’s largest sustainable ETF Lewis Jackson | 07 May 2021Text size
Australia’s largest sustainable fund easily outpaces the ASX 200 and boasts strict exclusion criteria, but the inclusion among its holdings of companies that have been fined for tax evasion illustrates the ambiguities of sustainable investing.
BetaShares Global Sstnbty Ldrs ETF (ASX:ETHI) has more than $1.3 billion under management. It tracks an index of large global stocks identified as “Climate Leaders”, companies that have also passed several exclusion tests on involvement with fossil fuels, weapons, and human rights abuses.
Sustainable funds like ETHI are growing in popularity. Assets in Australian sustainable funds topped $25 billion in 2020, with $4 billion over the year.
2020 was a record year for Australian ETFs Emma Rapaport | 08 Feb 2021Text size
If you d told me in March that 2020 was going to be a record year for Australia s ETF industry I d tell you to pull the other one. Assets under management fell sharply in the covid-19 market sell-off, with several major asset classes in decline.
But investors defied expectations, exploiting the free-fall in March to boost their allocation to Australian equities ETFs. A dash to safety also attracted inflows to products with exposure to physical gold, while massive rebounds in US growth companies saw a renewed interest in technology-themed products. In all, 2020 was a standout year for Australian ETFs, which attracted $20 billion in new money. The $100 billion milestone is in sight.